Even if you're little you can do a lot

Day: March 9, 2017

Hello. For those of you who are unaware I am a HUGE fan of Melinda Salisbury. To me she has yet to write a bad book. I’d like to devote a blog post to The Sin Eater’s Daughter trilogy and what it is I love about it so much. Hopefully you’re all of sane mind and have either read them all anyway or this post will convince you to go pick it up somewhere!

So here we go…

Let’s start with book 1: The Sin Eater’s Daughter.

“Seventeen-year-old Twylla lives in the castle. But although she’s engaged to the prince, Twylla isn’t exactly a member of the court. As the Goddess embodied, Twylla instantly kills anyone she touches. Each month she’s taken to the prison and forced to lay her hands on those accused of treason. No one will ever love a girl with murder in her veins. Even the prince, whose royal blood supposedly makes him immune to Twylla’s fatal touch, avoids her company. But then a new guard arrives, a boy whose easy smile belies his deadly swordsmanship. And unlike the others, he’s able to look past Twylla’s executioner robes and see the girl, not the Goddess. Yet Twylla’s been promised to the prince, and knows what happens to people who cross the queen. However, a treasonous secret is the least of Twylla’s problems. The queen has a plan to destroy her enemies, a plan that requires a stomach-churning, unthinkable sacrifice. Will Twylla do what it takes to protect her kingdom? Or will she abandon her duty in favour of a doomed love?”

Goddesses? Badass female character? Love? Magic? Castles? Evil queens? Love triangles? Deception? Old ritualistic ways of living? Duty? They sound like the things you like? Then TSED is right up your street.

I loved The Sin Eater’s Daughter so much. It was everything I wanted in a book. Twylla was a character I loved straight away. I was attracted to her strength. I loved the idea of a “sin eater” too – which apparently was a thing, Mel did her research. The idea of someone having powers of execution from her touch was dark, daring and devilish and was right up my street. Reading it did not disappoint. You’ll feel ALL of the emotions when you read this; it is certainly a rollercoaster of emotions. I absolutely devoured this book and had to have the second one immediately… alas I had a year to wait.

AND WHAT A WAIT IT WAS. A year later came book 2: The Sleeping Prince.

“Return to the darkly beautiful world of The Sin Eater’s Daughter with a sequel that will leave you awed, terrified . . . and desperate for more. Ever since her brother Lief disappeared, Errin’s life has gone from bad to worse. Not only must she care for her sick mother, she has to scrape together rent money by selling illegal herbal cures. But none of that compares to the threat of the vengeful Sleeping Prince whom the Queen just awoke from his enchanted sleep. When her village is evacuated as part of the war against the Sleeping Prince, Errin is left desperate and homeless. The only person she can turn to is the mysterious Silas, a young man who buys deadly poisons from Errin, but won’t reveal why he needs them. Silas promises to help Errin, but when he vanishes, Errin must journey across a kingdom on the brink of war to seek another way to save her mother and herself. But what she finds splits the world as she knows it apart, and with the Sleeping Prince drawing nearer, Errin must make a heartbreaking choice that could affect the whole kingdom…”

So I’d waited a year and then here it was, finally. And my word. I loved it. I read it QUICKLY. This time you’re introduced to Errin. Lovely, loyal, badass Errin. Much like Twylla, Errin is a character who you will totally want to fight for. You’ll feel all her pain, you’ll want to know how to help her, you’ll want to fight all her battles with her. Silas, ah Silas, a mysterious and wonderful gentleman of this fictional world. I really liked the dynamic that Silas and Errin added. (You can see my full review of TSP here: Bookblog: Melinda Salisbury.)

AGAIN Mel made us wait a year for the next book, The Scarecrow Queen. But at YALC she released a short story based in the same world as TSED titled The King of Rats and it was delicious. Staved off some of my wait. However after reading it I WANTED MORE. (BOOK BLOG: The King of Rats)

A year later of waiting… book 3: The Scarecrow Queen arrived.

Well, in fact my amazing friend Aimee was at an event with Melinda Salisbury and managed to get her hands on a super early copy of TSQ for me, and even got it signed too. AND MY GOD I CRIED.

“The final battle is coming… As the Sleeping Prince tightens his hold on Lormere and Tregellan, the net closes in on the ragged band of rebels trying desperately to defeat him. Twylla and Errin are separated, isolated, and running out of time. The final battle is coming, and Aurek will stop at nothing to keep the throne forever… Explosive, rich and darkly addictive, this is the stunning conclusion to Mel Salisbury’s internationally best-selling trilogy that began with THE SIN EATER’S DAUGHTER”

I have a full review of The Scarecrow Queen coming this week but just know that it was everything I wanted from the finale of his series. I was not ready for it to be over. But this book was filled with more badass Twylla, more surprises, more fighting, more rebellion. More twists and turns. Just an utter delight, an incredibly deliciously evil way to end this. I cried when I finished it.

Purely aesthetically they’re GORGEOUS. So if you’re looking for books that look good on your shelves you absolutely can not go wrong with these ones. Look at those covers though. Deliciously dark covers with ladies in bottles… I mean c’mon. Don’t you wanna know what these are all about? AND THEY’RE INCREDIBLE COLOURS. That top picture pleases me to no avail. Just yes. Shelf appeal for sure.